Dr. Haidt's
starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions
we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions
feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those
who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these
intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the
political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those
of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map
of the moral domain, and he explains why conservatives can navigate that
map more skillfully than can liberals. He then examines the origins of
morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally
selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately
altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It
is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our
religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final
chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right
about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and
libertarians to flourish as a nation.

The reason I read nonfiction (and books about philosophy and politics
specifically) is to give my brain something to think about other than
Variable Length Subnet Masks and Per VLAN Spanning Tree Protocol. By that yardstick, this book succeeded wildly.

The crux of Dr. Haidt's argument is that there are six basic moral foundations and our values (and decisions) spring from these:

Care/harm for others, protecting them from harm.

Fairness/cheating. Justice, treating others in proportion to their actions, giving them their "just desserts." This is also referred to as "proportionality."

Liberty/oppression. This characterizes judgements in terms of whether subjects are tyrannized.

Loyalty/betrayal. Are you loyal to your group, family or nation, or do you betray them? This is also referred to as "ingroup."

Authority/subversion. Respect for tradition and legitimate authority.

Sanctity/degradation. Avoiding disgusting things, foods and actions. This is also referred to as "purity."

As I was reading, it seemed apparent to me that my own moral foundations rest firmly in care/harm and liberty/oppression, with sprinkles of fairness/cheating and loyalty/betrayal. I understand the authority/subversion foundation (but don't think I share it much), and don't get the sanctity/degradation foundation at all. According to Dr. Haidt, that's because I'm WEIRD. While this is not a newsflash, in his case he means I'm a person who is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic. And those demographics typically reflect a strong affinity to the care/harm and liberty/oppression moral foundations. But being WEIRD means I'm a minority. Most of the humans in this world are not included in these demographics, and it behooves me to at least attempt to see the world from their point of view before I dismiss their ideas, opinions and values as not worthy of my consideration.

So now I more thoroughly understand that the religious right's bigotry against the LGBT community is based on the sanctity/degradation moral foundation. And I understand how someone who places value on loyalty/betrayal might think that a liberal who desires to expand the "ingroup" to include previously excluded humans might find that threatening.*

The best point that I think Dr. Haidt made is that almost every political group has something of value to offer our community. I don't agree with much of the Libertarian and Conservative platform, but that doesn't mean that their desire to protect tradition, free markets and proportionality in crime and punishment is somehow evil or they that don't have what they consider to be our nation's best interests in mind. It just means those goals and priorities need to be balanced with social justice and protecting the least among us - my own priorities. I think that reminder is probably worth the cost of the book and the time it took to listen to it.

______________*I still think they're full of shit, of course. Bigotry is not something people get a pass on with me, no matter what moral psychologists say. But I understand it.

3
comments:

Thank you for your review, Janiece -- you often inspire me to increase my own reading list! (Although, like you at the moment, I am in Textbook Land, which leaves little time for _enjoyable_ reading. Ah, well -- the holidays will give me two weeks in which to catch up a bit on my "for fun" list.)

The trouble, I think, with books like this one, is that the segment of the population who would *benefit* the most from reading them are generally the people who won't. This represents some pretty obvious and deep-seated bias on my part, I know, but honestly: the close-minded rarely respond well to suggestions that they expand their world view.

Have you read _The Faith Club_ by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner? It sounds like the opener to a bad pun (a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew walk into a living room and address issues of faith tolerance over tea ...) but -- while it is not an example of perfect writing -- I found it very encouraging.

The biggest hurdle I face when trying to discuss issues with my more conservative friends is that their bottom line almost always boils down to “I take it on faith”. They allow someone who is in a position of authority to tell them what is right or wrong (usually based upon their religion). Arguments that impinge on those ideas generally get little to no traction. The knowledge that other religions exist and may have contradictory ideals never seems to cause them pause to examine their own beliefs. I examine my own ideals on a regular basis and it reflects in my conversation with friends; I’m sure it drives them nuts when I attempt to argue both sides of an issue. As for your claim of being “weird”, well I’m looking around and it seems to me that you’re in the majority not the minority. It could be an effect of the election season though.

About Me

I am a Hot Chick living in Castle Rock, CO with my fabulous family. We have a rescue dog named "Jackson," and she's a Basenji/Shepherd mix. She's something of a head case, but we love her. I'm a U.S. Navy vet, and I currently work as an Enterprise Solutions Architect, specializing in VoIP and multimedia contact center design. I care about social justice, libraries, science, the U.S. Constitution and the military. I serve as a Director on our local library's Foundation Board. I'm a tax and spend liberal in a largely red county, but I try not to be stabby about it. I aspire to run faster than I do, and I donate knitted cold weather gear to various charities. Stupidity, cupidity and wanton assholery piss me off, and I'm more than a little soft when it comes to dogs and those who serve others. I blog about whatever I feel like. I use foul language, so if that sort of thing offends you, feel free to fuck off now - if I'm unwilling to clean up my language for my fabulous Great Auntie Margie, I'm unlikely to do so for you. Newcomers are welcome here, especially those who disagree with me, but trolling and spamming will be met with the Shovel of Doom™.